Obama wants improvements in fertilizer safety

President Obama has engaged his administration in the process of improving chemical safety for handling and storage of ammonium nitrate at the urging of Barbara Boxer, chairwoman of the U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee.

Last week, an executive order created a series of deadlines that “a team of Cabinet members and agency heads must meet for overhauling best safety practices, data-sharing and emergency response,” according to Reese Dunklin and Matt Jacob for the Dallas News.

Some observers see the administration’s involvement in directives targeted toward improvements in the storage and handling of ammonium nitrate as significant, but how successful any fixes can be and if they will over regulate the fertilizer industry in general is a question.